“This is what we target,” Vamvakidis said in an interview
yesterday at PCT’s headquarters in Piraeus. “To be the southern
European entry point serving countries in the Balkans and on the
Black Sea.”

PCT’s expansion plans may help Greece emerge from a six-yearlong recession and two international rescues totaling 240
billion euros ($324 billion) by stimulating demand for sea and
rail transport near the crossroads of three continents.

Greece’s economy has shrunk about a quarter since the debt
crisis began in 2009 and unemployment is about 27 percent,
leaving Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s New Democracy party
neck-to-neck in polls with the main opposition group that
opposes the austerity conditions tied to emergency aid. As head
of a coalition with a four-seat majority in parliament, Samaras
has fought off speculation Greece will need to call early
elections and asserted the country is on the verge of a
turnaround.

Rail Link

Samaras has showcased HP’s agreement in March to use PCT to
move goods manufactured in Asia into Europe, saying it’ll have
“multiple positive effects” for the port of Piraeus and the
national economy. This became possible after the government
rushed to complete a long-delayed 17-kilometer (10.6-mile) link
from the port to the national rail network after China-based
Cosco Pacific entered the Greek market.

In addition to the deal with HP, PCT is working on similar
agreements with four other multinational companies including
telephone-network equipment producer Huawei, according to
Vamvakidis. He declined to name the other three companies, while
signaling that at least one of them is also Chinese.

The planned rail services for HP will begin in the first
quarter of 2014 and be the model for arrangements with the other
multinationals, Vamvakidis said.

Block Trains

PCT plans to transport as many as 76 containers of HP goods
a week by rail, he said. The service will be offered on so-called block trains, which load freight at one point and carry
it to a final destination without splitting up or storing goods
during the journey. At a later stage, PCT plans to offer space
on block trains for shipping-line clients and manufacturers, he
said.

“Our aim is to help our carriers and clients to expand in
Piraeus’s hinterland,” Vamvakidis said. “Hewlett-Packard is
the flag project.”

PCT has operated Pier II at Piraeus port since 2009 under a
concession agreement with Piraeus Port Authority SA and is
building a third pier. PCT will operate the almost-completed
eastern side of Pier III while PPA will be responsible for the
western side. Full construction is due to be done by 2017 at a
total cost of around 645 million euros, including an upgrade of
Pier II.

Construction of Pier III’s western side will involve 200 to
250 jobs, according to Vamvakidis. The western side will
generate 700 full-time jobs in addition to about 1,000 existing
positions on the eastern side and on Pier II, he said.